The team received good news from NASA HQ — the K2 mission, the two-wheel operation mode of the Kepler spacecraft observing in the ecliptic, has been approved based on a recommendation from the agency’s 2014 Senior Review of its operating missions.

The approval provides two years of funding for the K2 mission to continue exoplanet discovery, and introduces new scientific observation opportunities to observe notable star clusters, young and old stars, active galaxies and supernovae. The 2014 Senior Review report is available at http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/documents.

After the second wheel of Kepler's guidance control system failed last year during the spacecraft's extended mission, engineers devised a clever solution to manage the sun's radiation pressure and limit its effect on the spacecraft pointing. K2 will observe target fields along the ecliptic plane, the orbital path of planets in our solar system also know as the zodiac, for approximately 75-day campaigns.

The team is currently finishing up an end-to-end shakedown of this approach with a full-length campaign (Campaign 0), and is preparing for Campaign 1, the first K2 science observation run, scheduled to begin May 30. To learn more about the K2 mission visit the Kepler Science Center website.

Regards,
Charlie

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An artistic rendering of the K2 mission, the two-wheel operation mode of the Kepler spacecraft observing in the ecliptic. K2 will observe 4-5 target fields annually along the ecliptic plane, the orbital path of planets in our solar system also know as the zodiac, for approximately 75-day campaigns.

Image Credit:

NASA Ames/ W Stenzel

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The conception illustration depicts how solar pressure can be used to balance NASA's Kepler spacecraft, keeping the space telescope stable enough to continue monitoring distant stars in search of transiting planets.